Saturday, May 15, 1999 Published at 16:48 GMT 17:48 UKUKCrack troops prepare for KosovoThe RAF Tornados are adding to reinforcementsBritain is preparing another 2,300 troops for possible deployment in the Balkans.

The troops include 679 soldiers from the Parachute Regiment based at Aldershot and another 680 troops from the Royal Gurkhas.

The UK is also sending another 12 RAF Tornados from their base at Bruggen in Germany to be based in Corsica where they will be nearer their targets.

Armed Forces Minister Doug Henderson said: "It is prudent planning for the successful end to the air campaign."

There are currently 47 RAF aircraft and 6,300 UK troops involved in the crisis, which has been running for seven-and-a-half weeks.

Most of the troops were originally sent to Macedonia as the vanguard of a peacekeeping force in neighbouring Kosovo, but some have been diverted to Albania to help set up camps for refugees from the war in the Yugoslav province.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said Britain had pledged at the outset some 8,000 troops to a Kosovo peacekeeping force.

Mr Henderson's announcement meant "we will train
up the rest and get them ready, so when the time is right,
they can go in immediately to reinforce the guys that are
there".

Mr Henderson said Friday's Nato attack on the Kosovo village of Korisa, which the Serbs claim killed scores of civilians, was aimed at a military target. Reiterating Nato's earlier statement, he said he "deeply regretted" the incident.

Kosovo Albanians embrace before leaving for another camp in Albania

He said: "Nato only attacks military targets.

"If there is any doubt that civilians are at risk, planes move away without dropping their weapons. They are still working on those tight guidelines."